The sun do move : The celebrated theory of the sun's rotation around the earth

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AS PREACHED BY

REV. JOHN JASPER

OF RICHMOND, YA.
WITH A MEMOIR OF HIS LIFE.

Price 25 Cents

[»i^E'w York! :
BRENTANO'S LIT,:?RA^Y EMPORIUM,

5 UNION SQUARE.

1882.
4

This is a special, verbatim report of the cele-
brated "Sun do Move" sermon as preached by
Rev. John Jasper. The argument has never been
published until now.

"The Sun Do Move!"

Brethren and Friends : The text is found in
Exdus, chapter 15, verse 3: " The Lord is a man
of war ; The Lord is his name."

I will begin the argument by making a few broad-
cast remarks upon the origin of the Jews. I shall
start at Abram, the father of the Jews. After the
flood, we reads in the loth chapter of Genesis, how
the world become settled with people, and how they
multiplied, and whar they went into the different
parts of the earth. We finds out that Abram war
residing in Haran, whar his relations war. They war
idolaters. Abram war 75 years old •w^hen he war called
out of Haran and the Lord showed him into the
land of Canaan, which war to be his inheritance. It
war the Lord's purpose that the Jews should go
amongst a strange people and be afflicted for 400
years. About 25 years after Abram come out of
Haran, he had the pleasure of looking on his lawful
heir, Isaac. He had another son, by his maid-servant.

When after he had the pleasure of looking on this
lawful heir, Isaac advanced on, like other children,
until he got to a certain age. And God said to him
on this occasion to take his son Isaac, to whom he
war very much devoted, and carry him to a mountain,

called Moriah, and offer him up for a burnt sacrifice.
After Abram attempted to do so, when he had bound
his son on the altar and drawed his knife, and war
about to give the stroke, he war called by the angel
of the Lord out of Heaven, and the angel said :
" Lay not thy hand upon the lad, for thy faith are
tried, and I sees thou are willing to sacrifice ; but, in-
stead of Isaac, take the ram that's caught by the
horns on the mountain, and offer him in the place of
Isaac, and let Isaac be released." When Isaac ad-
vanced on and felt desirous to change the single
state of life and try the married state, he was fortu-
nate in getting the one he had made his choice,
Rebeccah. Then Abram begot Isaac, and Isaac be-
got Jacob, and Jacob begot twelve sons. Each of
these sons war the head of a family, which are called
the twelve tribes of Israel. Out of those that lived,
there was seventy and five souls that went down into
Egypt, sojourned there, and they multiplied consid-
erably, though they was afflicted by the king of
Egypt 400 years.

And when the time expired that they started to
come out, God commissioned Moses to state to
Pharay to let his people go, that they might come out
to serve him. Pharay hardened his heart and de-
clined to do so, and God visited him with frequent
judgments. In making Pharay 's obstinacy to yield,
God caused several miracles to be performed. I
could illustorate the pint by a good many, but I will

only mention three. First he caused Moses and
Aaron to smote the waters, so they become full of
frogs ; then they smote the dust of the earth, and
that become lice on man and beast ; and the other
miracle war that the Lord sent a grievous swarm of
flies to bother and pester the Egyptians, and you
■ knows how flies pesters, specially in summer time !
These war some of the plagues that God sent upon
Pharay to make him submit. Then Pharay be-
seech-ed Moses for to ask God to remove the flies, and
he would let them go. Thar war various other
plagues, but, as I said a while ago, I omits them,
because it makes the time too lengthly, and it would
be tedious, also, for the argument I propose to
'culcate. After God done so severely visited him
by destroying angels, and he found out that God war
about to display his power, and that he warn't no
match for God, then Pharay consented to let them
go. So he come out into the wilderness with 600
chariots, and colonels with them, to capture them
and carry them back : he come out to fight a battle
against Jehovah ! God disappointed him in his ex-
pectations, and Pharay and his men war drownd-ed
in the Red Sea. And Pharay himself, before he war
drownd-ed, and when he found God war about to
smother him and bring Israel through, exclaimed and
said : " Turn back, for this day has God fought for
Israel against the Egyptians !" Oh, brethren and
friends, that ^var the time that God rode gloriously

and triumphantly, like a mighty rider, on the face of
the ocean, and showed that he war a man of war,
and war capable of delivering his people !

I will now show that God also sustained Moses
and backed him up in fighting with two kings of the
Amorites, Sihon and Og. He conquered them, so I
won't lengthen the argument. I will just go to
Joshua, who war the successor of Moses. He took
the young tribes that war raised up in the wilderness,
after they left the land of Egypt, and carried them
across the Jordan into Canaan. After he got into
Canaan, Jericho war the first place he captured ; the
next place he captured war Ai, and the next after
that war grea^Gibeon. I will now proceed to illus-
torate to you how these places war took.

Joshua and the Israelites went round the walls of
Jericho six times, once a day, and, when they went
round the seventh time, then Joshua commanded
them to give a shout, and they blowed the trumpets
of rams' horns, and the walls of Jericho fell — so that
war captured : they captured Jericho and the king of
Jericho.

At Ai Joshua sent up 3,000 men to spy out, and
they went up, and the Amorites slayed 36 men out
of the 3,000. Those that remained come back to
Joshua, and when he heard what the Amorites had
done, he fell on his face and cried out to the Lord.
The Lord said, " Wherefore liest thou on thy face ?
Get up, for Israel hath sinned and hath amongst

5

them the cursed thing." And that cursed thing war
a Babylonious garment, 250 shekels of silver, and a
golden wedge that Akon, the son of Kami, the son
of Zabdi, the son of Zero, had carried to his tent and
mixed amongst his own spoils. So Joshua had these
things laid down before the children of Israel for to
be destroyed, and he called Akon to account for hav-
ing those things, and he acknowledged it truthfully.
And they stoned Akon to death, and cast him into
the valley of Akon, and he is thar until this day.
And after they had got the cursed thing from
amongst them, Joshua led so many thousand men
into an ambush~to lay in wait for the city. He took
so many thousands and went up to Ai, and told them
he war gwine up thar, and war gwine to run, and the
Amorites would for sure chase him, just as they did
the first ; and, as he drawed them from the city, then
his men that war lying in ambush war to rise up and
seize on the city. They done so. He went up and
they immediately got after him, and they war so
warmly after him that they done forgot to shut the
city gates, and left them wide open : then the men
lying in ambush rose up and captured it.

After he had captured Ai, the Gibeonites feared
that Joshua was gwine to capture them and take
their lives. So, some on 'em disguised themselves •
they put on old shoes, and old hats, and old coats
and took with them moldy bread and meat, and bot-
tles of wine, and went amongst Israel, and got in

6

amongst them and made allege that they war fur-
riners that come from a far country, and they had
heard of the fame of Israel, and how they had con-
quered the two kings of the Amorites on the other
side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, and they said^
" the whole land is faint-hearted on account of the
fame of Moses and of yourself since you have been
here" — (for you recollects that Joshua had got the
children of Israel on this side of Jordan by this time);
— "we are furriners,'' they said, "we come from a
far country, and we are willing to be hewers of wood
and drawers of water, to save our lives." Under
that allege, Joshua recognized them as furriners
and took them then for that purpose.

But, two or three days after that, some of the
neighbors sent word to Joshua and said, " these are
not furriners ; they are Gibeonites." And Joshua
called them to account, and asked them why they did
tell a falsehood ; and they affirmed that they did told
a lie, but they did it because they were in fear of
their lives, and that, as they said at first, they would
be willing to become hewers of wood and drawers of
water to save their lives. And the five kings of .the
Amorites heard of it, and, feared lest things would
turn out too strong against them, they concluded to
make war against great Gibeon. So that the five
kings of the Amorites combined themselves together
to fight against great Gibeon, because the inhabitants
of great Gibeon had gotten among Israel and repre-

sented themselves as furriners under a falsehood.
When they had gathered themselves together and
had fixed themselves in array of battle, — it war a
very warm battle. And Joshua war sent for. He war
at Gilgal, and they sent for him to come immediately,
and to slack not his hand. And when he come
and saw the array of battle, Joshua found out that
the sun war advancing rapidly to go down and that
he, could not avenge himself on the enemies before
the sun did went down. He beseech-ed God that the
sun should stop. The Lord commanded him to stand
in the sight of Israel and speak to the sun, and say
unto the sun : "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon,
and thou, moon, in the Valley of Ajalon, and the
sun stood still, and the moon stayed, and hasted not
to go down for a whole day." And there had never
been a time when God barkened to the voice of a man
to stop the sun until this occasion. After the battle
war fought, and Joshua achieved a victory over the
enemies, he turned back and commanded the five kings
of the Amorites (who had concealed themselves in a
cave) to be brought out ; and they brought them out,
and he caused his valiant men to put their foots upon
their necks, and said unto them : " Thus shall you
do unto all your enemies." And they took them five
kings and hung them upon five trees, and they hung
upon them five trees " until the going down of the
sun.

Now then, I ^ave proved to you all these things

8

as they are laid down in the Bible, chapter and verse.
According to the text, Joshua showed in the sight of
all Israel that The Sun Do Move, because he
stopped it, by God's command, for a whole day, as the
text states. If he stopped it, that proves that the
sun war moving, and moving over Joshua and the
Amorites, and of course they war nowhar else than
on this here earth, and consequently it war moving
around the earth, and after the battle war over, it
begun moving again in its regular course. Therefore
it is proved that the Sun Do Move around the earth.
Now then, this great fact of the sun's rotation may
be illustorated by many powerful texts in the Bible :
I will confine myself to the m^Jst striking ones.
Notice Malachi, chapter i, verseii — and that come
from God's own mouth, and thar cai> be no properer
authority than God's authority. With His own lips
he said, " For from the rising of the sun even unto
the going down of the same my name shall be great
among the Gentiles." What strikes us here is that
the Sun Do Move ! " My name shall be great among
the Gentiles " — (and we people of to-day is the Gen-
tiles) — thar, is an evidence that the Sun Do Move,
for it's God that says it. And take Ecclesiastes, ist
chapter, 5th verse : " The sun also ariseth, and the
sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he
arose." Thar's an evidence that he arose, for if he
had not done left the place, he could not haste to whar
he arose. Again, in Psalm l, verse i : " The mighty

God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the
earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down
thereof." I illustorates this as an evidence that the
Sun Do Move, for the psalmist is the inspired writer,
authorized by the Almighty to say this. The follow-
ing texts I put in evidence : Psalm 1 1 3, Verse 3 : —
" From the rising of the sun unto the going down of
the same, the Lord's name is to be praised." Isaiah,
Chapter 38, Verse 8 : " Behold, I will bring again the
shadow of the degrees which is gone down in the
sun-dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward ; so the sun
returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone
down." And Judges, Chapter 14, Verse 18 : " Before
the sun went down—." Now, from the expressions of
all these texts, thar is evidence that the Sun Do
Move, for they war all inspired and written of God,
of the Holy Spirit of God, who authorized to write
these things. See, also, Jeremiah, chapter 31, verse
37: "Thus saith the Lord, if heaven above can be
measured, and the foundations of the earth searched
out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel
for all that they have done, saith the Lord." Here
is more evidence. No man can measure the dis-
tance from the sun to the earth, according to this
text. Thus God says this distance can't be found
out, for it is impossible to measure the foundations
of the earth. "In the firmament is the tabernacle
of the sun ; he is gwine forth as from one end of the
heaven to the other, and his circuit is to the end of

lO

the earth," saith the psalmist. That is, instead of
the earth's circling, the sun is circling the earth.
Therefore the sun's rotation can't be overthrown.
The Filosofers' reasons to the contrary is a matter
of impossibility. They say thar is a nation that at
1 2 o'clock in the day has their foots opposite us :
now it is an utter impossibility for them to know that
thar is any nation under thar doing so, as, witness in
Jeremiah, 31st chapter, verse 37, whar it says the
foundatious of the earth can't be measured.

Now then, brethren, let us pass on. Notice this
from Revelation, chapter 7, verse i : "And after
these things I saw four angels standing on the four
corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the
earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth,
nor on the sea, nor on any tree." Now the four
angels that stood on the four corners of the earth are
an evidence that the earth is squar and not round,
for anything that has got four corners is not rouad^
but SQUAR ! So we is living on a four-cornered earth
sot steady. " I saw four angels," etc., — now this text
means the overthrow of the Pagans' power, or the
fury that the unsanctified monarchs war about to
pour out on the Christian Church. Those four
angels standing oii the four corners war sent to hold
in check the rage of those unsanctified men that war
seeking to pour out their rage on the Christian
Church. Some persons says. Revelation war a dream
of John. Now, it was not a dream, but a vision. And

II

thar is a mighty great difference between a dream
and a vision. A dream am an empty thing, but a
vision are a reality. The Apostle Paul war converted
by a vision — that show-s you what a vision am!
Revelation war a reality authorized by God : what
the Apostle saw thar, he was authorized by God to
write.

Now, in summing up the whole argument, the con-
clusion I desires to impress upon you am, stick to the
Bible ! Stand by it in every word and line, read it,
meditate over and believe it as a white book, unmixed
of errors. It am God's Reveal-ed Will, and it am our
duty to obey it as a guide that will tell us all what
we got to do, conduct us through this life, and lead
us into heaven. It am an all-sufficient guide for all
persons, nations, climes. Therefore, cling to the
Bible and don't depart from it in the least. All that
God desired that men should know and do is thar in
that book, to prepare us for heaven ; and it can't be
got out of no other book, I don't care what you
calls it !

Whatever God in his providence has laid down,
that we must believe in and obey. Yet often we
murmur against God's providence, not knowing that
his providence is all for the best. It's like if we
look on a leaf of this book (the Bible) ; if we only
reads what is on one page, without looking under-
neath, on the other side, we can't understand its
meaning ; so we can't see through the ways of his prov-

12

idence. For instance, take death ! If every man had
to say when he should die, he would live on to a hun-
dred, a thousand years — he never would die. But
you all has to go ! And when Providence calls you !
Death am universal ! Go down all the main streets,
and then into the cross streets of this city, and what
do you see ? Some man or woman mourning for a
lost one ! Go into the avenues and lanes leading
into this city, and what do you see ? Some farmer
with his cart bringing produce to the city — he, too,
is a mourner ! " How, do people die in the country?"
Yes, Death am universal ! Go a little further — into
the mountains whar the bold streams rushes down,
meanders through the wilderness and emi)ties into
the rivers : thar, also, you will find some lost one
mourned for ! Move on, along them rivers, until you
gets to the tempestuous ocean, whar two hundred
ships is passing by the sea-shore : then look at the
crape round the hats of their officers ! " What's the
matter, Cap'n ?" " We are mourners for our dead !"
Cross over and go into the interior, and strike the
soil planted with graves : " What's the matter, fur-
riners ? Has Death crossed over here, too ?" "Yes,
we, too, have to mourn for lost ones !" Death am
universal ! But, brethren and friends, there is conso-
lation for us, if we repents of our sins, and starts for
heaven. Oh, let me warn you to accept the eternal
life promised through our Savior, before it am too
late, when you appears at the Seat of Judgment!

13

Fellow-sinners in ranks ! turn your back on Hell,
and look toward Heaven ! King Jesus cometh ! —
Fall in ranks ! — when all his elect shall mount in
chariots drawn by wing-ed horses, and be seen gwine
up in the clouds to that blessed abode whar all the
houses is made of gold and the streets is paved with
pearls. Amen.

Extract from the remarks made by Rev. John
Jasper, in his pulpit, at Richmond, Va., on Sunday
morning, January 22, 1882 : —

Now, on one pint I wants this morning to set
myself squar before this church, which has been slan-
dered through an attack on my person. Some bad
men in Ebenezer Church that has formed themselves
into a ring against this church, and against me as its
pastor, are gwine about telling everbody that I
preaches "a base fabrication," and they calls us
" Jaspeuians." I knows who is at the head of that
ring : Dick Wells and Nat Jones ! Now, all I has to
say is, that those men tell a lie, and they knows it,
too ! I means it, and I says it, here before the world,
and if they dares to, they can come right here, and
I'll tell it to their face. I'm not afeard to speak out
what I has to say, if I war gwine to be killed for it
two minutes afterwards. I sticks to the Bible. I has
tooken nothing from it and added nothing to it. I
takes my stand by Joshua and John. Before those

14

men can get at me, for to attack me, they got to
attack God himself, and then after God, the prophets,
and after the prophets, the inspired writers of the
Gospels, before they comes to me ! I'm ready for
'em ! My views has gone throughout the United
States and into the interior. I likes to see a man in
earnest ! But, as for double-faced men, such as they
is, I won't sit down by their side in no council, for who
can trust men who one day says one thing, and the
next day does another? Besides, this church, whether
invited or not, is nowise compelled to send delegates
to a council called by Ebenezer Church — no church
in this city is !

MEMOIR.

The Rev. John Jasper, who now enjoys a world-
wide fame — thanks to the foregoing sermon — is the
pastor of the Sixth Mount Zion Colored Baptist
Church, at Richmond, Va. He was born in that city
on the 4th of July, 181 2. He is a tall, powerfully-
built man, jet black, and, in spite of his age, still
strong and well preserved. He has been preaching
during the last forty-one years, having been converted
when a youth. He has been married twice and has
several children ; from his first wife he was divorced,
and his second wife is dead. He resides in a com-

15

fortable little house in the suburb of Richmond, and
passes most of his time studying the Bible. He has
been well provided for by his congregation, who are
devoted to him and constantly desire to raise his
salary of $750, which offer he as persistently declines
on the ground that he is hot preaching for money,
but to save souls. His originality, earnestness and
dignity are conspicuous, despite his lack of fluency
in the ordinary stock of schools, lay and clerical.
Twice every Sunday he delivers a sermon, and, on
special occasions, as per request, preaches his famous
sermon on the Sun, During his month's vacation
every summer, he leads protracted meetings in the
counties adjoining Richmond. He says : " I has
seen the time when I could preach a sermon every
hour in the day, and not feel more tired than a man
gwine to bed after a good day's work."

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